OK, a strange week had me down in LA on Friday, and home through the easter weekend, but with Monday free. I sent an email out into the aether to the off-width crew and a few others and got a reply from Melissa.

I plan to be in the Valley on Monday. I may be with slobmonster who has a dog, so we're looking at cragging. If slobmonster and doggy come, I was thinking of Finger Lickin', which has routes on both the thin and fist list (that I can't find) and may even sport a 10a ow. You're welcome to join us. And as I haven't heard from him, us might just be me. I'll already be there b/c I'm climbing w/ another friend on Sunday.

Melissa

Great luck! I hadn't climbed in the Finger Lickin' area before, and this was a chance to go climb with someone I had run into occasionally but never climbed with, Melissa. We converge on the Arch Rock entrance early Monday morning and head out to the turnout, 1 mile east.

Reid admonishes: "a tricky scramble up a poison-oak laced roadcut begins a steep dirt and brush march on a vague trail..." and our first half-hour is consumed just scoping out a way minimizing the PO contact... which we find. A rather well defined trail leads up to the cliffs, hitting the lower one first. But we are still waiting to see if we've escaped the PO, nice shiney, oily leaves, lush in places, and right in the path.

To the cliff you make a little move right and find yourself staring at Petty Larceny, Snatch Power and Jaw Bone. Short routes which look fantastic. We go over to do Jaw Bone 5.10a first. This route was Mark Chapman and Kevin Worrall in 1973. It starts thin, gets wide and steep, then lays back a bit and gets a tad narrower. My lead... which I execute but not cleanly. I have to hang at the crux but I'm hating my weak head... oh well, this is spring training, the big show will start soon enough. I lower and clean the rope, then Melissa dances up the thing. She's in "off the couch" mode but is strong. Here she is just before the crux:

It was a very nice route with excellent protection, and short at about 50', perfect craging. We then move over to Snatch Power 5.10c. This was put up by Bob Ashworth, Bruce Pollack and Mike Pollack in 1973. My lead, oh boy! I work the initial moves over and over again, but don't get the pull. Feet are slipping, can't quite get a solid hold, fall on a couple of Aliens a bunch of times, skinning the backs of my fingers in the process.

Melissa goes up to work it, but doesn't figure it out. She steps in a sling and sets a piece high, but that doesn't help much, so she just leads out of the sling. Her main objective is up and around the corner, no sense getting blown out on the warm up. Beside, I think the difficulties moderate a bit, but the move through the roof is not at all easy, some tricky jamming and an odd sequence. This is not a problem for my rope gun, Melissa walks the upper part of this climb which is also great.

I get the moves on TR, another very nice climb.

The real reason we are up here is to do Finger Lickin' 5.10d, FA 1973 by Mark and Kevin. Just walking up there and spying the climb through the brush makes you wonder why there aren't lines of people waiting to do it. The line is striking. Really esthetic, and relatively short. Melissa warned me she would hog as much of the leading on this as she could... I told her not to worry, she could take all that she wanted. The description in Reid: "Continuous splitter, 5.10d doesn't get any harder," and since I don't climb 5.10d yet...

In fact, Melissa found this climb on Ray Jardine's website log rated as 5.11...

Here is Melissa on the easy lower part just before the first 5.10d crux. There is one that finishes the climb higher up.

A set of burly moves in the corner gets you up to a point where you are reaching off finger locks just good enough to get you extended so that you can slip part of your right hand into the thin beginning of a thin hands crack. Somehow you cheat that hand up until you are feeling good, then pull up and into a great thin hands, continue working this until it thins to fingers... man.. a few moves at 5.10d gets you to the ledge.

What a great route! Melissa nearly fires it, having to hang at the lower crux, but gets the rest of the route without much difficulty detected from the belay...

I go up and struggle, but I work both cruxes and get to the top without resorting to a pulley/winch haul system. Man am I worked.

So that was it for me, Melissa was game for more but my old body was happy to have done as well as it did. We tour around and look at somebody's project, and at a corner which turned out to be Pandora's Box 5.10a fists... there is a lot to return to here.

So far, no PO... but I couldn't floss on Tuesday, wrapping the floss around my finger hurt! missing divits of skin remind me that we worked hard on finger cracks, and the sore left foot arch another reminder that slippers don't have much support, even though you want to wear them on thin cracks.

A first visit to a nice crag, a picture perfect day, and a wonderful partner... can't get better than that!

Chappy and I cleaned Great Moments in Baseball and got shut down on our first effort to climb it. We left a nut, a #6 stopper I think, at our high point and planned to get more fit and return. We made the mistake of showing our find to Bridwell one day shortly afterward on our way to Arch. A few days later Bridwell walked up to me in the morning as I was pickin my guitar and asked me how many new routes Chappy and I had done that season. It was six or seven, good ones too. Then he asked me what I was doin that day. Didn't know I told him, and he split.

That afternoon was the climber/ranger baseball game. I was out in the field and I see Chappy striding with great determination from the direction of camp, and directly toward Bridwell. I think the Bird was on the mound. Then in front of everybody Mark starts yellin at him about how he stole our route. I thought he was gonna start swingin.

Turns out Mark had returned to camp to find our #6 stopper at the picnic table with Bachar. Mark got all pissed off and Bachar told him he got it off a cool new route Bridwell had taken him to that day. Bridwell couldn't follow his lead.

For a few weeks before that for some reason Bullwinkle had been repeatedly tellin me "You gotta name one of your new climbs Great Moments in Baseball!"

"Why?" I would always ask. "Why not?" he would always say.

Bachar named it Pinky Paralysis. It's a great splitter finger crack, one of the Valley's best.

Honestly, I thought the fist was - in some ways - harder than the fingers. Of course with sticky rubber and TCU's it was a much more tame climb. I did it twice, both times in two pitches, both times followed the fist and let the thin.

Fall???? man..... let's get her done before that. By Fall I'll be needing another diet challenge and a bolt-on liver. Maybe we can rap into it or find a good swimmer.... I hear Werner can swim real good.

ok, ok, we can walk down a bit around the west...
fortunately (or unfortunately) the "hot pink list" of 10a OW is heavy with the Elephant routes...
...but the sushifest is coming up soon too... so probably not this weekend.

Susan, now you'll give me writers block, and your voice will join the chorus of others guiding me through life... e.g. Feynman "what I cannot create, I do not understand", Pratt: "technique is our protection", Long "don't thrash!", Peplow "keep it under 1000 words"...

...glad you liked it.
What's next? jeeze i dunno... there is the long long list... but right now I've got to get back a lead-head. There is the "hot pink list," the "yellow-book 5.9/5.10a list," the "Roper obscura" list, the list of attempts-to-be-sends, the high mountain list, the desert list....
...Russ seems to be lobying for an Elephant's day... maybe as soon as the pass opens we'll do that one, and I can cremate the "hot pink list"

But this coming weekend is open (but if I go out with Gary we'll probably start long route training)... the next weekend is Fish-In-The-Desert with some ancillary climbing... after that I'm not thinking.

Everyone is probably different, but I thought it was a good bit harder than five and dime which, although I never tried to lead onsight, I don't think I've ever fallen on, even though I tried it initially at a much early point in my learning curve. I did get this one clean on TR after hanging on the lead, but it required an unusual amount of grunting and discomfort.

I've only climbed outside one half day in Yosemite and a mini-day on moderate sport climbs in Owens in at least the last 4 months (maybe more?), so my 'off-the-couch' mode as Ed put it could be part of the reason why I found it harder. I suspect since I didn't feel too clumsy or weak though, that I actually would usually have a harder time with the longer and somewhat flaring stretch of rattlely fingers on Finger Lickin'.

Snatch Power, for me, was harder than both by far! I don't know if it was reach, power, or some mystery technique that I was lacking there?!

FWIW, it was part of a 10d 1" circuit. On said circuit, there were two climbs that I went to do, and upon looking at them, decided to save them for a stronger day. (Little Wing, Mark of Art) Both by Chapman, one by Worrall. I don't know Kevin, but Mark is a pretty big guy. You might get a finger lock here and there where it's too fat for me, but these routes must have otherwise been that much harder for you!

Finger Lickin' is much harder than Five and Dime for me, too. I have smaller than average hands. I can barely toprope it - I think it is the liebacking at the top that gets to me. On Five and Dime I am getting good handjams the whole way (cupped at the top).

I agree the liebacks are deceptive - I recall something that felt more like finess than determination.

For me the start of Fingerlickin' was a concern - where the crack pinches off in that cleft, and below there's a section where the gear is poor because of how the crack opens inward and, you have to gas it - I hated gassing it - I wanted to be able to belay off each jam and place gear all the way!

I recall looking down the cleft and recognizing it would suck to fall into it, near the ground too.

Clint, I'm surprised you say you have smaller than average hands
but get cupped handjams at the top of 5 and Dime. That's a solid
3 inches, fists for me. I think I have smaller than average hands
but not Much.

whoa Russ dude! only scuffy_b on TeamWide has talked about the Basket, inspired by Peter H.'s story... spyork, I don't think Russ was suggesting a TopRope, but a Team insertion on a suicide mission... sort of like the dirty dozen minus 8.

On a totally embarassed note, I didn't spell "winch" correctly... now changed.... I can't believe I did that! Sorry Melissa!!

along with:
Fallout
Desperate Kneed
Jaws (the real one, not that SD sham)
Elephants Eliminate
Space Invaders
Crucifix
Sky
On the Edge
Barefoot Servants
Book of Job
Owl Roof
Boa/Pirouette
Ala Moana
Narrow Escape
Wild Turkey
that wild ass looking thing up and left of you
when you are walking down to the EastLedges.
It's wide, big and far away on one of the Brothers???
Straight Jacket
and that thing on Broderick???

Basket Case. That thing look so cool. Every time I'm up canyon I just keep looking at it. I'll never climb 5.11 offwidth so maybe rappeling is the answer! Bushwacking over to it is it's own reward, of course.
Zander

Yeah Kev I was pretty pissed at Bridwell about Great Moments in Baseball. I just thought it was so low of the guy. We worked hard at cleaning it--over the better part of two days if I remember correctly. I also remember driving around and showing him all the great new routes we did that spring. I thought he would be proud of us. Obviously that was a misconception--jealous was more like it. What a betrayal of friendship. I never thought the same of Jim after that.

Charlie Porter and I first went to the Finger Licking area in the spring of 74. Charlie was way into free climbing that spring and we climbed a fair amount together. I can't remember why we went up there, whether I saw some particular route or we were just exploring the lower canyon. We climbed Jawbone first naming it after a deer jawbone we found near the base. The lower part of Snatch Power was dirty. I returned a short time later with Matt and Bruce Pollock and Asworth, cleaned the route and led it. I named it after some graffiti that was in the lodge restrooms. Though I borrowed the term, I didn't use it in the same spirit as the graffiti "artist". Rather, it was meant to reflect the need for having a strong grip so one could snatch the holds through the thin crux. Its a fun little route. Wandering around after our ascent I stumbled upon Finger Licking. You know the story there. That was pretty funny when Donini pulled off that big munge clump at the top. A great little crag all in all.
Chappy

Awesome history lesson Kevin. Thanks for that. All these historical route names should definitely end up as akas or somehow otherwise be noted in the new Meyers' guide. And I thought no poaching was allowed in a National Park!

I just want you and everyone else to know that Eddie Barry named that area Dog Dick Cliff.

I did the first route up there with him and Bachar - Short but Thick, and Ed took the theme to a lower level with his name for the zone. I'm not sure how he came up with it, but he was listening to a lot of Zappa at the time...

Short but Thick reminded us of Short but Thin by Sacherer Cracker, similar length and difficulty, only wider, or, thicker.

So, if Bridwell wasn't able to climb the purloined Pinky Paraysis, then why does he get any first ascent credit? I understand the motivation to be recorded but either you do or you don't actually climb the route on the day in question. There would certainly be some justice in lost reward for treachery and pirating in the same way that chiseling the foothold on New Dimensions didn't gain Jim the FFA soon to be snatched away by Mark Klemens without its help. Do I have the story straight here?

Neat thread. During the read I was thinking this is a climb I should go do. Then I saw Marshall's shots - wooo nelly.

Melissa, I thought Little Wing was intimidating as hell too. Something about making the first thin moves off the very end of that exposed ledge. Great climb though. I also loved, loved the Riddler out there.

It's a cool area, good half day of cragging, but the P-oak ain't no joke. Like alot of the lower merced stuff, it's almost impossible to totally avoid it on the approach.

Took my first* grounder on Petty Larceny when I decided to fiddle with crap gear for 5minutes instead of punching it another few feet to a good lock. Put a 00tcu behind a thin flake, foothold crumbled, I pitched and when the rope came tight the flake blew off the wall. Hit the ground from about 12' on my heels, did a backwards somersault and slid downhill another 15ft. Luckily the ground was so soft and rock-free, I augered into the dirt about 4" before going ass over teakettle. Escaped more or less unscathed save for a giant bruise on one ass cheek. (* and hopefully, last grounder).

Since that was supposed to be the first pitch of the day, we moved over to "warm up" a little more on Snatch Power and Jawbone before moving up to Finger Lickin'. Snatch Power has a crimpy little section low where you're fishing in small gear that's probably the crux, but getting around the little roof/overlap is pretty awkward even though the jams are good. The day continued to be interesting (i.e. gripping) since I reached the upper half of SP, a uniform 1.5" crack, with no cams that would fit it. Placed the worst tipped out .75 camalot ever and ran it to the top. After those two fiascos, FingerLickin itself felt soothing, if taxing.

Good stuff up there for sure, you might put hedge clippers or a machete on your rack for the approach.

I remember being bent that you guys never invited me along on those first ascents. Little Wing, PP, Finger Lickin', Snatch Power and all the rest are all huge classics in my book. How about the "Mark of Art." Now that's a super good one that doesn't get much traffic I reckon. So is Short but Thin.

Mark of Art gets a lot of attention because it is next to Sacherer Cracker, both as a lead and as a TR. Certainly within the last month Rhodo_Router was belaying a partner attempting to lead that rig...

Photos of my hiney remerge...The reminiscence bump made me smile since I haven't been getting out a lot lately.

I haven't been back to Little Wing (except for strolling down the road), but I reckon it looks as scarey as ever. I did return to Finger Lickin' in peak form after last spring's Indian Creek trip to settle a score and try some of the other offerings and have probably not climbed that well since... Super fun day, Ed! Thanks for the bump. :-)

Vanishing Point also deserves to be mentioned among these .10+ routes. Not as sustained, but that crux section had my number. Nice quiet area too.

I was able to ferret out a clear view of the roof on VP in five of the viewing points at xrez's amazing site: clear from Yosemite Point, Columbia Rock, Eagle Point, Manure Pile and El Cap Summit. What a resource.